48 A WINTER BIRD-STUDY. 



and the waste-basket is a source of as much in- 

 terest to him as it was to the cat-bird, though 

 he does not regard it in the same light. To the 

 cat-bird it was a deep well containing treasures 

 he longed to possess ; to this bird it is a cage 

 between whose bars he can pull its varied con- 

 tents. He walks around it on the floor, inserts 

 his bill and drags through the openings what- 

 ever he is able, pulling and tugging at them 

 with all his might. After an absence of an hour 

 or two from the room, I often find my waste- 

 basket adorned with buttresses of paper, cloth, 

 and other materials standing out on every side. 

 Another marked characteristic of my bird is 

 his aversion to change. He is preeminently a 

 creature of habit, and impatient of variations 

 upon the established order of things. He has 

 an exact knowledge of the arrangement of my 

 room, and expresses the strongest disapproval 

 of innovations. If I assume an apron or a 

 shawl, he will not come near me ; a pillow left 

 at the foot of the bed disturbed him for an 

 hour ; the corner of a rug turned up gives him 

 pain ; a stiff leather string that fell with end 

 sticking up instead of lying flat in the manner 

 of strings annoyed him beyond expression ; 

 and he absolutely declined to change his lodg- 

 ings, though I offered him a larger and better 

 cage. Having taught him to come out of and 



